Poorly Designed

What constitutes as a bad design? In my opinion, it is when the design does not effectively or efficiently achieves its goal. My last couple posts talked about industrial design and functionality within that realm; however, what about poor graphic designs? Graphic design, or visual communication, strives to convey a message or emotion. If the viewer cannot comprehend the message right away, the image is poorly designed. Consider the 2012 London Olympics logo.

I first saw this logo months ago, and I only saw shapes. It wasn't until I read an article on the BBC website that actually specified that the logo depicts "2012." Finally, after months, I saw the 2, the 0, the 1, and the second 2. Then, talking with others, I have found I am not the only one who didn't see the message, the content, that was intended. Some people can't help but see shapes, or an actual picture/scene when looking at the logo (the said scene depicts a long time cartoon character, and that is all I will say). Personally, I did not see a specific scene, but I found myself trying to figure out if the logo was trying (and failing) to be an actual scene or if it was merely shapes. In the end, I was wrong on both accounts. What could have been done to avoid this graphical disaster? Color varients between the digits? Letter spacing? Less abstract and more traditional typography? It is difficult to speak for the whole, but from my perspective, all the above could improve the design. While that is purely subjective, others may find that the logo as a whole should be scrapped and a new logo should be designed.